Char&Coop: Book 2: Mirror Mirror on The Wall
by Sunkissed Gurl
Summary: This is Book 2 of the series Charlotte&Cooper: Living the Fairytale. This story follows Book One - "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes." Charlotte and Cooper are married and raising a family the best they can. Sometimes it's a fairytale others it's not.
1. Chapter 1

Here's Book 2 of Charlotte and Cooper the Fairytale Series,- **Mirror Mirror On The Wall**

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Private Practice. The characters belong to the show and ABC.

Book One is titled **Char&Coop: A Dream Is A Wish A Heart Makes. **You can scroll down and look for it or you can find it on my profile page.

Book 2 begins two months after Book One ended. Charlotte just found out she was pregnant again and Cooper was regaining some movement in his legs.

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-**BOOK TWO: CHAPTER ONE-**

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**x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x - MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL-x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x**

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**Two months later:**

**C**harlotte's just arrived home from work at OCW. She's three and a half months pregnant now and working full time. You can barely notice the petite blonde is even pregnant at three and a half months. She has a small baby bump that's easily concealed by her clothes.

"Coop! I'm home" Charlotte yells as she drops her purse down on the couch.

"Momma! Yay! Momma home!" Two and a half year old Bryce runs to hug his momma. Charlotte bends down and gives the mini Cooper a hug. Bryce has dark hair with curls that fall just past his shoulders. Cooper has threatened to cut it every time some old woman calls his son a cute little girl but Charlotte won't let him chop away at those beautiful locks. So Cooper dresses his son in all boy clothes, sport outfits and caps. This way the old ladies can't mistake him for a girl.

"Where's daddy Bryce?" Charlotte picks him up, He's too cute not to with those bright blue eyes that remind her of his daddy whenever she looks at him.

"Daddy in kitchen." Bryce points in the direction.

"Well okay then, let's go find him." She says as she shifts his weight on her hip and walks in the kitchen."You're gettin' heavy kid." She tells Bryce and he giggles.

Cooper's got his back to them as they enter the kitchen. He's flipping something on the stove. He hears them come in. "You're late. I fed the kids already." Cooper's stands supporting himself with one hand on his walker and flipping a tuna steak for Charlotte with the other.

"Sorry but the new doctor started today. We all had to lend a hand helping him adjust." Charlotte sits at the table with Bryce on her lap. She twirls one of her little boys' curls between her fingers.

"You mean the new pediatrician? Cooper turns around to look at her as he's cooking. "My replacement?"

"He's not your replacement. He's only temporary until you can come back to work. Hopefully we only need to keep him around a few months." Charlotte puts Bryce down. "Find Allison and tell her she can go now, Momma's home."

"Kay" Bryce scoots out of the kitchen looking for his babysitter. Coop's home all day but he requires leg braces and a walker to support himself while standing. He doesn't have enough strength in his legs yet to hold the kids while standing so they hired, Allison, a twenty two year girl to help out. He goes for physical therapy everyday. They arranged for him to get a ride there since he can't drive. They were going to order him a custom made car but canceled the plan since they anticipate Cooper will be driving again in less than a year. Cooper hardly goes anywhere besides physical therapy anyway. He's self-conscious about the walker and leg braces.

"I like the new look, by the way." Charlotte notices Cooper's hair is much shorter and neater than when she left him for work this morning.

"Allison insisted on cutting it again. You think it looks good?"

"She does good work. Any chance you'll go back to your old hairdresser now that you're out of the chair?" Charlotte asks.

"Not until I get rid of this thing." He rattles his walker. "How's the new doctor treating my patients?" Cooper puts the tuna steak on a plate and carries it to the table in one hand while pushing his walker along.

"His name's Dr. Todd Turi and he's okay. He's fresh meat, right out of residency, so we've got to keep on top of him." Charlotte picks up her fork. "He's full of questions."

"Why'd Sam and Addison hire a kid out of residency?" Cooper goes back to the stove and fixes himself a plate always holding on to his walker for support.

"He's not exactly a kid." Charlotte tells him as she eats. "He's twenty eight and they hired him because he's cheap. It's his first real job. They didn't want to hire someone with experience that they have to pay top dollar. Plus the guy has to hit the road when you're ready to come back, Todd's just looking to get some experience."

"Hmm. I see." Cooper says sitting down with his plate." Eat your greens, they're good for the baby."

"I know Coop. It's the third time I'm pregnant in three years." Charlotte puts a forkful of broccoli in her mouth. "I can do it with with my eyes closed now." The phone rings.

Cooper picks up the cordless phone next to him. "It's St. Ambose again. They called earlier looking for you." He hands Charlotte the phone.

"Hmph! Wonder what they want?" She takes the phone from him, "Dr. King speaking."

While Charlotte's on the phone, Allison comes in the kitchen carrying Savannah with Bryce trailing behind. Allison's twenty two with long brown silky hair that reaches her waist. She's pretty with a shapely figure. Charlotte teases Cooper that that's the reason he picked her out of all the candidates. But the truth is she doted the most over the kids during the interview. He has to leave them alone with her a little over an hour each day while he goes to the hospital for physical therapy.

"Put Savannah in the high chair Al, I'll give her some desert." Allison places ten month old Savannah in her high chair. "As you see, Char's home so you're free to leave."

Charlotte hangs up the phone.

"Goodbye Dr. King" Allison waves a hand.

"Bye Allison. Thanks again" Charlotte notices the cute purple sundress the babysitter has on.

"Bye Al, we'll see you in the morning." Cooper calls out after her. Allison gives him a wave with her hand as she walks out the door.

Charlotte picks up her water to drink. "Oh it's Al now? You gettin' chummy?"

"I'm with her all day Char, from morning til dinner, it's hard not to get chummy."

"Not too chummy I hope." Charlotte puts her water down teasing. She trusts Coop.

"She's a kid Char." Cooper feeds Savannah mashed bananas for her desert as he eats his own dinner.

"She's not built like a kid. That's for sure." Charlotte kisses Savannah on the cheek as the baby slobbers down her bananas.

"I'm forty two. She twenty two. That's a kid to me, besides she sees me as an old guy with a walker." Cooper tastes a spoonful of bananas. "You've got nothing to worry about my dear."

"I'm just teasin' ya." Charlotte takes a bite of her tuna steak. She wants Cooper to feel like he's still attractive. His self esteem has been pretty low since the accident and he's dependent on the walker.

"Let me tell you, the kids love her." Cooper takes a bite of his tuna steak then feeds Savannah a spoonful of bananas; airplane style. The baby giggles for him.

"Why do you say that?" Charlotte watches Cooper play with the baby as he feeds her.

"She keeps them smiling all day." Cooper tastes a another spoonful of bananas. "You should see her; she's awesome." Cooper brags about the babysitter. "She gets down on the floor with them and entertains them with puppet shows."

"Does she entertain you too?" Charlotte quirks an eyebrow up.

Cooper just looks at her for a moment. "The kids love her Char. ...What? Don't you like Allison?" Cooper goes back to feeding the baby.

"I don't know." Charlotte answers honestly. "I know she's great with the kids and that's why she's still around but I'm not sure that _I_ like her." Charlotte thinks Allison gets involved too much with Coopers' business; cutting his hair and all. She's being paid to take care of the kids; not Cooper. Then again, she is home with him all day. How could they not become friendly? They're both talkative types of people, she thinks to herself.

"Why?" Cooper shrugs his shoulders. "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know." Charlotte takes a bite of her tuna steak. "Just a personality clash, I guess."

"That's you Dr. King." Cooper smirks. "You have a talent for personality clashes. Making friends has never been your specialty."

Charlotte gives him a disapproving look. "Not funny, Cooper." Charlotte's aware she's always had a harder time making friends than Cooper and she harbors a sensitive spot about it.

Cooper knows he hit a nerve and decides to change the subject. "What did St. Ambrose want?"

Charlotte's eyes light up bright. "You're not gonna believe it. Dr. Peters resigned and they offered me my old job back as Chief of Staff."

"You're kidding?" Cooper's surprised. "What'd you say?"

"I said I'd get back to them about it. I wanted to talk to ya first." Charlotte's eyes are beaming with excitement.

"I know this is what you've been waiting for Char but you've got your job at Oceanside. We hardly see you as it is. Not to mention you're pregnant again."

"I could do it Coop. I'll cut my hours at Oceanside. Sam and Addison would be fine with it; means a smaller paycheck they need to dole out. I'd be home every weekend as Chief of Staff." Charlotte's talking fast with excitement."Looks like you've got your mind made up." Cooper throws his napkin on the table. "We hardly see you. I don't like it. I don't want you to do it."

"I thought we agreed to compromise in this marraige?" Charlotte puts her fork down.

"I have compromised. I agreed to let you go back to work. Remember?" Cooper's getting loud.

"You let me go back to work because you can't work." It's getting heated.

"I told you I was okay with it before the accident." Cooper raises his voice even louder, " I was going to let you go back anyway!"

"You were going to _let _me? I'm an adult if I want to be the Chief of Staff at St Ambrose I don't need you to _let_ me!" Charlotte gets up and leaves the kitchen.

"Why momma mad?" Bryce looks at his daddy with big bright eyes. His desert's smeared all over his face.

"Sometimes momma's and daddy's get angry Bryce. Momma will be happy again tomorrow." Cooper says under his breath, "I hope" as he hears Charlotte slam the bedroom door.

"It's not going to be a fairytale ending tonight kid." He tells Bryce as the toddler munches down his desert.

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**I love to hear what ya'll think, please review! :)**

**Special Thanks to Just For Fun for being my beta. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

x o x x o x o xo x o x o x o x o x o x o x o xo x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o-**Book Two Chapter Two- Mirror Mirror on The Wall-**x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o xo x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x

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**The Following Morning**

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Charlotte's at work the next morning and Dr. Todd Turi, the new pediatrician, asks her for help to calm down a hysterical mother. He's just given the mother some uneasy news about her child's condition. Charlotte follows him into his office. Charlotte's able to soothe the child's mother fairly quickly while Dr. Turi plays with the child. Once the mother and child leave he walks Charlotte back to her office.

"Thanks Charlotte. I tried talking to that mom for half an hour and you were able to calm her down in ten minutes." Dr. Todd Turi is twenty eight years old and fresh out of residency. The tall dirty blonde doctor is filling in for Cooper until he is able to return to work.

Charlotte pats the new doc on the back. "You'll catch on. It's years of experience as Chief of Staff and experience as a mom. None of which you have."

"I'm much better with the children than I am with the parents." He confesses.

"You're gonna to have to learn to deal with the parents if your specializing in pediatrics." Charlotte advises him. "Along with every darlin' child comes a frantic parent."

"You know a lot about pediatrics." Todd asks. "I thought you were the sexologist slash urologist around here?"

"I am." She looks over the tall well built doctor. "My husband's Dr. Cooper Freedman the pediatrician you're filling in for."

"Oh. So that's how you know so much about pediatrics?" Dr. Turi asks.

"That and as Chief of Staff I need to be knowledgable in all the specialties." She answers as they walk towards her office together.

"I wasn't aware you were Chief of Staff?" He's impressed. "At what hospital?"

"I was the Chief of Staff at St. Ambrose for five years?" She answers proudly.

"Why aren't you anymore?" Todd asks. They stop as they reach the door to her office.

"I gave it up two and a half years ago after my son was born." She tells him.

"Ah. I understand." Todd nods his head. " Well, I certainly know who I'm going to call whenever I need help around here." He smiles and starts to walk away.

Charlotte loves the flattery. She could use the uplift after the fight she had with Coop the night before.

"Dr. King" The receptionist calls down the hall. "Dr. Freedman called he's not going to be able to meet you for lunch this afternoon."

"Thanks." Charlotte looks down and thinks Cooper's still stewing over their argument last night. She wishes he could be as excited for her as she is over the job offer at St. Ambrose. She was hopeful when they talked about going out to lunch. Cooper hardly leaves the house anymore unless it's for physical therapy. She feels guilty that the argument took his nerve away. it'll be another day of him just sitting home with Allison and the kids.

"Good, that means your free for lunch." Todds tells her "I'll take you out as a payback for helping me with that mom."

"Sure. Why not?" Charlotte shrugs her shoulders and goes back to work trying not to think about Cooper.

"How does twelve thirty sound to you?" Todd calls after her.

"Sounds good." Charlotte answers.

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For lunch Charlotte and Dr. Todd Turi decide on a casual pizza restaurant. Todd's keeps takes good care of himself. His short dirty blonde hair is neatly trimmed and his hazel eyes change color depending on what he's wearing. Charlotte notices sometimes they appear green and other times a light golden brown. He's youngest and the most stylish doctor at OCW.

"How's your husband doing?" He folds up his pizza to eat it.

"Cooper's slowly making progress. I figure it'll be a few more months before he's ready to come back to work. His legs are still pretty weak. He needs a walker and braces to get around." Charlotte eats a salad.

"How are his spirits? That has to be rough."

"His spirits are usually good but today I'm afraid his spirits are down and that's my fault." She digs her fork into her salad.

"Why?" Todd asks as he takes a bite of pizza.

"I was offered my old job back as Chief of Staff at St. Ambrose. I want to take it and he doesn't want me too. He wants me home as much as possible."

"Can't blame him for that." Todd pauses and wishes he could take back those words but they already left his mouth. How does he explain what he just said? "Sorry. I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"How did you mean it?" Charlotte can tell she's making the the young doctor nervous but decides to stick with it. " Did you mean it as a chauvinist, that thinks the woman belongs home with the kids or…..."

Todd interrupts "No. I didn't mean it that way."

"What _did_ you mean by it?" Charlotte's having fun watching the young doctor squirm his way around his words.

Todd looks down at his plate. He might as well just say it. There's really no good way out of it. "I meant because you're... well ...attractive. If you were my wife I'd want you to be home with me as much as possible too." He doesn't look her in the eye now.

Charlotte grins. "Thank you. You're not bad lookin' yourself."

Todd's relieved she's not mad and looks up at her. "So what will you do?" Take the job or pass?"

"I haven't decided yet. I want to take it but not if it's gonna mean sacrificing my marraige." Charlotte picks at her salad.

"It wouldn't bother me if my wife wanted to better herself with her career. Except I don't have a wife ...yet"

"Are you dating anyone?" Charlotte asks.

"Just playing the field right now. During residency I was too busy to date seriously but I'm ready now. If you have a sister like yourself, I'll take her."

"Aren't you full of compliments today?" It's just what Charlotte needed to get her out of her sour mood. "Are you ready to get back to work now?" Charlotte gets up.

"I am. Ladies first." He holds out his hand for Charlotte to step in front of him.

"Hold on." Charlotte takes her napkin and wipes away a spot of sauce on his tie.

"I guess I do need a woman to take care of me." He laughs and Charlotte smiles at him.

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Charlotte arrives home from work. Cooper's in the kitchen again. "I sent Allison home already. It's pretty late. Your dinner's in the oven keeping warm." Cooper makes his way out of the kitchen with his walker.

"Wait Cooper! I want to talk to you."

Cooper stops and turns around.

"What is it?"

"I want to take the job at St. Ambrose. I really want this Cooper."

"I told you I don't think it's a good idea. But do what you want Charlotte. It's your life. It's all about you after all." Cooper raises his voice.

Charlotte gets up "What's that supposed to mean? I gave up working for two years after Bryce was born. It's not all about me!" Charlotte raises her voice right back at him.

"Two years! Two freakin years Charlotte is all you gave up for your family and I can't walk without this damn thing." He shakes his walker. "How's that fair?"

"Owww!" Charlotte suddenly keels over holding her abdomen.

"What's wrong?" Cooper stares at her.

"I don't know. I've got cramps. Bad cramps." She holds her hand over her lower belly.

"Okay calm down. Sit down." Cooper's talking in a soothing voice now.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Charlotte walks briskly out of the kitchen.

Cooper gasps out loud.

"What? What's wrong? Charlotte turns and asks.

"Charlotte, there's blood on the back of your pants. I'm sorry Char." Cooper stares at her frozen for a moment, knowing what this means. Charlotte runs to the bathroom.

Cooper waits nervously outside the bathroom door. "Are you okay in there Char?"

"No. No I'm not okay" She comes out of the bathroom wearing her robe. Her eyes are red from crying. "There's too much blood. I ... I lost the….."

Cooper interrupts. "I know. I know." He wraps one arm around her while supporting himself with his walker with the other arm. Charlotte sobs with her head against his chest. He tries to remain strong both physically and emotionally for her. He feels himself weakening in both areas. He begins crying with her then he feels his legs go weak. His legs begin to shake. He can't hold himself up any longer. He falls forward and they both tumble to the ground. He's lands on top of her. She's startled and looks up at him. He's humiliated that he dropped her and fell on her; she can tell.

"It's okay Coop. It'll be okay." She wraps both her arms around him. He sobs into her neck while still lying on top of her. He sobs for the baby they just lost and that he couldn't hold her up. He sobs that he let them both fall. His wife just had a miscarriage and here she is comforting him. What kind of man is he? He thinks to himself in sheer humiliation.

Charlotte lies underneath him and cries, but it feels good to be surrounded by the warmth of his body at this moment of grief in her life. She feels safe in Cooper's arms and wishes she could stay like this forever.

"Just hold me Cooper. Please just hold me." She tells him.

He swallows and wipes away his own tears. "I'm here Charlotte. I'm not going anywhere." He couldn't even if he wanted to. His legs are still weak and his walker fell out of his reach. He's going to have to drag himself to reach it and try to stand. He doesn't want Charlotte to see him do that.

"I'm sorry Cooper. Do you blame me?" Charlotte asks through tears.

"Of course I don't blame you." Cooper rubs her head.

"I've been working so much lately and I thought maybe..."

Cooper interrupts. "What does your work have to do with it?"

"I thought maybe the stress of working so much could have contributed. Maybe if I rested more." She buries her face in his chest.

"You're talking about losing the baby? You're asking me if I blame you for this miscarraige? Of course not Char." Cooper just now realizes she's asking about the miscarraige. He thought she was referring to if he blamed her for the accident. That seems to be on his mind a lot.

"Really? Because I can't help but think if I would have taken it easier." Charlotte goes on talking through tears.

"Come on Char! We're both doctors and you know stress doesn't cause a miscarraige unless it's severe, unusual stress and you don't have that. Besides you worked when you were pregnant with Bryce right up until your due date. You worked both jobs when you were pregnant with Bryce and he was fine." Cooper points out. "This baby probably had some type of genetic defect that caused you to miscarry." Cooper pulls himself up so he's leaning against the bed.

She thinks about it and sits up next to him. They're both leaning against the bed now. "I just feel so ...sad."

Cooper wraps an arm around her. "Don't feel sad. We have two healthy children, a boy and a girl."

"But you wanted more. _I_ wanted more and now..." Charlotte twiddles her thumbs together as she looks at them and talks.

Cooper tells her "And we will have more. I know my body isn't strong enough to perform like that yet but I'll get there Charlotte. I promise I'll get there."

Charlotte takes his hand and squeezes it. "I know you will Coop." She hopes he will because it's been a long time. They haven't been intimate since the accident and Cooper doesn't want to try the alternative ways offered in Charlotte's sexology manual for the handicapped just yet.

"Are you ready to go to bed now?" Cooper asks.

Charlotte gets up and brings Cooper his walker. "Do you need any help getting into bed?" She asks.

Cooper pulls himself up to a standing postition with his walker and tells her. "Tonight I'm helping you. Tell me what you need?"

Charlotte lies down on the bed and reaches her arms out to him. "I need you to hold me tonight."

"That's it?" Cooper asks as he lies next to her on the bed.

"That's everything." She whispers as he pulls her into an embrace.

He holds her tight against him and rubs her back until she falls asleep in his arms.

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**I value your opinion so please REVIEW! :) Your reviews help me to make it more enjoyable for you to read. :)**

**Thanks to Just For Fun for being my beta! She Rocks! **_I hope you're reading JFF!_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- Get ready for the drama to really start up now. Remember what Shonda told us , they will be together but it isn't going to be easy. The same applies here. Charlotte and Cooper will be together but it isn't always going to be easy. Sometimes it's a fairytale and others it's not!**

**Book Two- Chapter Three**

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MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL

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Cooper's home with the babysitter, Allison, and the kids.

Allison offers Cooper a beer and carries a cup of tea for herself. She sits down on the couch next to Cooper. " Here you go." She hands him the beer after aopening it for him.

Cooper's sitting on the couch watching an afternoon talk show. "It's a little early for me to drink, but I'll take it." He slugs down some of the cold beer.

"I'm not used to having company at this time of the day." Allison tells him as she pushes her long brown hair behind her ear. "I always put both the kids down for their afternoon nap at this time. This is my quiet time of the day. Why are you home today?" She sips her tea and asks.

"They canceled my physical therapy session today. My therapist has the flu." Cooper takes another slug of beer and continues to watch the show.

"At least you get a break from it for a day." Allison puts her tea down.

He looks at her."I don't want a break from it. I need it every day. I need to keep my muscles moving and working."

"What do they do for you in physical therapy that helps so much?" Allison's a bit nosey.

"First the therapist massages my leg muscles to get the blood flowing. Then I bend my knees and work against weights for resistance training to strengthen the muscles. Then I walk holding on to these bars."

"And it's working?" Allison slurps her tea.

"Oh yeah, I get a little further every day. I hate missing it."

"Well why don't I work with you? It doesn't seem too hard. I'll massage your legs muscles and then you could push against my weight with your feet. The kids are napping so we could try it now." Allison puts her cup of tea on the table.

"It can't hurt. I'll have to lie down on the floor to get the most resistance. The therapist uses a table. But the floor will do just fine." Cooper removes his leg braces that are strapped on over his sweat pants.

Allison kneels on the floor next to him "Just tell me what to do. Where do I massage?"

"The therapist starts with my lower leg muscles, the calf, and works her way up to my outer thighs." Cooper instructs.

Allison positions herself so she's sitting between Cooper's legs which he has both bent at the knees and she starts kneading both his lower leg muscles with each hand. "How am I doing?" She asks.

"Harder than that." Cooper chuckles. "You need to push deep into the muscle to really get the blood flowing. Don't be afraid to hurt me." Cooper instructs her from the floor, his head is raised on two pillows.

"If you say so" Allison kneads his lower legs pushing down hard with her delicate fingers. It reminds Cooper of Charlotte's touch with the small delicate hands. "I'm sorry about the miscarriage. Poor Dr. King, that must be hard."

"Thanks. It was hard but she'll be okay." Cooper says soft.

"You can always have another." Allison's kneading up to his knee now.

"I hope but I don't know." Cooper watches her.

"Why not?" Allison asks still kneading underneath his knees hard. "Am I hurting you?"

"No. It feels good. Keep doing what you're doing." Cooper tells her.

"Why don't you think you may be able to have more kids?"

"Let's just say everything's not back to normal in that department yet but it's getting there. I'm making progress."

"I'm glad I can help. Allison moves her hands to the outer part of Coopers' lower thighs above his knees and continues to massage working her fingers hard. "How's your wife taking it?"

"She's the toughest woman I know. She'll get through it. She's back at work already."

"That's great." Allison changes her position to reach the upper portion of Coopers' outer thighs. She's on her knees and her body is bent down so her face is looking down at Coopers legs. Her long dark silky hair brushes against Coopers' stomach as she moves. His t- shirt is slightly raised and he feels the silky hair tickle his skin. He can smell her coconut scented shampoo. From this angle he has a good view down her shirt. He can see her boobs dressed in a white bra laced with black trim. He knows he should look away, but she can't tell he's looking because her head's facing down. He decides to take in view. His heart beats a little faster as she works her hands up his outer thighs. He feels himself growing hard and he's surprised. It hasn't happened for him like this since the accident. He's happy to know he hasn't lost it so he lets her keep massaging up his legs. She won't notice since she's just massaging the outsides of his legs. This never happened to him at therapy. He never got hard, but then again at therapy he's in a big room with plenty of other patients, bright lights and loud noises. Here it's quiet and just the two of them. "I should send Dr. King some flowers." Allison says as she moves her hands higher up his legs and then goes back down to massaging his knees.

"That would be nice. She'd appreciate it." Cooper's still looking down her shirt. He feels her move her hands up his legs massaging the top of them. She works her way up and her one hands brushes against his hard muscle. He's embarrassed. He feels his face turning red. He swallows and tells her. "You don't have to go that high, stay below the waist."

"Sorry" She tells him and starts at his knees again massaging up the inner part of his thighs now. It feels good. He should tell her to stop but it feels good to know he can get it up on his own without Charlotte having to stimulate it manually with the toys she brings home from work. This is progress. He's able to get it up now without any medical manipulation. This is new. Allison works her way to the top of his inner thighs and then begins gently rubbing his balls with each of her thumbs. Cooper jumps. "You said not to go above your waist. I thought this was okay to stimulate the muscle."

Cooper hesitates at first. It feels good and Cooper tells her, "You're right. I did say not to go above my waist. You're fine there."

Allison takes that as a sign. She continues to rub him with one hand and gently moves the other hand up the length of his erection. He sucks in a deep breath. He feels her hand move up to the waist band of his sweat pants and slip down under and into his boxers. She glides her fingerstips up and down his erection and he lets out a sigh of pleasure. It's been so long. She pulls down his sweats and boxers and now he's exposed. She pulls her top off over her head and unhooks her bra. He immediately cups each of the breasts he's been admiring. He feels her blow kisses down his belly until she reaches his erection. He moans as he feels her wet lips and tongue on him. He pulls her up to him and brings her breast to his mouth. Now she's the one moaning. She slides off her pants and straddles him. He thinks they should stop now but it feels too good and it's been so long. She guides him inside of her and it's too late to say stop now. She moves herself up and down on top of him as he caresses her body. She moves faster. She screams like he's never heard before. He's afraid she'll wake the kids but he doesn't care, he's almost there. She lets out a final scream and he loses control too, warm fluid drips down their legs. She's breathing heavy and drops down on top of him. He holds her and is relievedto know that he has full function back and then he thinks "shit." What did I just do?" He's proud at his accomplishment but it should have been with Charlotte not Allison.

After a few moments the baby starts to cry. "I better get her." Allison quickly gets up and pulls her clothes on not making eye contact with Cooper. She gets the baby and comes out of the room as Cooper's putting his clothes on.

She jokes, "You're hot daddy? Guess that's why you had to take your clothes off?" She's holding the baby.

"I'm not hot. Miss Allison." He doesn't make eye contact.

"You _are_ hot." She looks him up and down and smiles.

Cooper can't help to feel flattered that this young hottie thinks a forty two year old man dependant on a walker is hot, but he tells her "This can't happen again."

"It won't. I promise. Let's fix you a bottle." She tells the baby and walks into the kitchen.

Cooper sits on the floor with his head hung down in his arms. He's shakes his head," Oh Charlotte my Cricket, what did I just do?" He sighs heavily "What am I gonna do?" He wishes he could do this day all over again!

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..TBC...

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	4. Chapter 4

**X x x x X X x x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x -BOOK TWO- CHAPTER FOUR-MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL-X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x x X x xX x x **

* * *

Charlotte rushes into work fifteen minutes late and is greeted by Dr. Todd Turi. "Oversleep?" He smiles.

"No. The babysitter called in sick at the last minute. I had to drive the kids across town to a drop off day care center." She hurries into her office and drops her purse on her desk.

"Can't Cooper watch them for a day without a nanny?" Todd asks.

"Cooper can't take care of them by himself. He's still too weak. He can't even lift Savannah out of her crib without falling." Charlotte looks over her messages while talking.''He can barely support his own weight with the walker.''

''So why bring them all the way across town. I pass several daycare centers on my way here every morning." Todd inquires

"I won't leave them with anyone. I know someone at this day care, hence I'm late. Why are you so interested in my life?" Charlotte looks up at him.

"You never cease to impress me; not only are you an amazing doctor but you're an awesome momma too." Dr. Turi compliments her.

She smiles enjoying the flattery but before she can respond her phone rings and he waits. She hangs up the phone and says. "Oh shoot, I forgot to ask them if they deliver."

"Deliver what?" Dr. Todd Turi asks

"Cooper ordered Bryce a battery motorized jeep to ride around in. It's big and bulky. I can't get it home by myself."

"I have a truck. I could pick it up for you. It'll save the delivery fee." Todd offers.

"That'd be great. Do you think you could do it tonight after work?"

"If you help me out with this patient it'd be a sure thing." He hands her a chart.

"No problem. I'll go see them now. What room are they in?" She glances through the chart.

"Room 6. Do you want to do lunch today?" Todd asks.

"Can't! Cooper's meeting me for lunch. He wants to talk to me about something." She continues,'' It must be important because it's not often that Cooper leaves our house.''

"Maybe he wants to talk about taking the job at St. Ambrose?" Todd guesses.

"I suppose. He was already asleep when I got home last night and the babysitter flew out the door like a bat out of hell. Didn't even get a chance to ask her how the day went. I guess she was feeling sick already."

"Hopefully the kids don't catch it." Todd leads her to room 6.

"Hope not." Charlotte says as she walks in to see his patient.

* * *

**Four hours later:**

Cooper enters the halls of Oceanside Wellness using his walker.

"Hey stranger!" Sam greets him and pats his back." It's great to see you out and about. Did you walk all the way here?"

"Yeah, the fresh air felt good." Cooper tells Sam. Besides his physical therapy Cooper doesn't get out much. He feels sensitive about needing to depend on the walker. This is progress.

Dr. Todd Turi greets him holding out his hand. "Hi I'm Todd. It's nice to finally meet you Dr. Freedman."

Cooper steadies himself with one hand on the walker and shakes Todd's hand with the other. Todd has a firm hard handshake and Cooper tries to match it with his own. It's important people know he's a strong man still.

"I understand you're my replacement." Cooper greets him back.

"He's not your replacement Coop. He's here until you're recovered enough to come back." Sam tries to assure him patting Cooper on the back again.

Todd tells him "I'm trying to get some experience. Your wife's been a big help."

Cooper looks over the tall blonde doctor who's filling his shoes. He's well dressed wearing an expensive suit and shoes. He looks to be in his late twenties.

Charlotte hears them talking and comes to meet them. "I see you've met Todd."

"Yup. Are you ready for lunch?" Cooper asks wants to get out of the office and get to lunch in a hurry before he losses his nerve about talking to Charlotte.

"Bryce's jeep that you ordered came in. Todd's going to pick it up and bring it to the house later and assemble it. Isn't that nice of him?" Charlotte asks Cooper.

Cooper puts his lips together and forces a smile at Todd. "Let's go to lunch." He tells Charlotte and makes his way to the elevator with his walker and braces.

* * *

Charlotte and Cooper are sitting at the table in the Chinese restaurant. They order their food and Cooper asks. "Why's Todd picking up Bryce's jeep?"

"I can't do it on my own Cooper. It's big and bulky"

"Why him?" Cooper asks.

"Why not? He offered. You got a problem with that?" She looks at him.

"I don't like some stranger having to help my wife"

''He's not a stranger Coop. I work with him everyday." Charlotte takes a sip of water. "He's a nice guy. You should get to know him, except you never leave the house. The only people you see are me, the kids and Allison" She puts her water down.

"Look around Charlotte. Do you see how everyone stares at me with this thing?" He gestures towards the walker.

"I didn't see anyone starin'" She answers bluntly.

"Well I do. They all look at me like I'm pathetic. I am pathetic. I can't even pick up a toy at the store for my son."

"Stop it Coop. If this is going to be a pity party I'm leavin'. Is this what you wanted to talk to me about over lunch?"

"No. I'm sorry" He says. He wants to tell her about his therapy session with Allison. The guilt is eating away at him. This isn't the right time. She's sure to be upset about it and he knows she only has an hour for lunch. So instead he says, "If you want to take the Chief of Staff position at St. Ambrose I won't stand in your way. I mean I'll support you." He doesn't really want her to take the job but he feels guilty about yesterday afternoon with Allison that he's willing to concede.

"This is a surprise. Why the sudden change of heart?" She's smiling a little now.

"I want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy Crickett." He hopes she doesn't see through his guilt.

"I am happy Coop." She intertwines her fingers with his. "I know life hasn't been fair to you but it will get better. I promise. You just need to keep up your therapy and you'll be rid of that thing in no time at all." She nods her head towards his walker.

"I hope your right. I want to be a man again."

"You are a man. You're my man." She squeezes his hand and he has a sick feeling in his stomach rooted out of guilt. He wonders how she'll take it when he gets around to telling her what happened with Allison. The waiter brings their food. "Enough of this talk. Let's enjoy our food." Charlotte tells him.

"Okay Cricket, let's eat." Cooper smiles.

Charlotte laughs. "What's with Cricket? You haven't called me that in ages."

"I know, I figured it's about time I started again. I miss my little cricket" Cooper's trying to hide his guilt.

"You're crickett never left." She takes a biteful of food. "How did you give me that nickname anyway?"

"You don't remember?" He's surprised.

"Nuh uh." She answers. She does, she just want to see hear him tell it.

"On our honeymoon, when we got to the hotel they had the reservations down as Cooper and Crickett Freedman. Remember?" Cooper looks at her.

"Vaguely" Charlotte answers lying. She remembers.

"Yeah, the hotel staff all called you Cricket. They thought it was your name." Cooper shakes his head at her.

"Oh is that it?" She eats her food and asks innocently.

"No!" Cooper chuckles. "That first night on our honeymoon, you made some interesting sounds and the hotel manager called our room because someone reported hearing shrieking noises."

"It's coming back to me." Charlotte teases and starts to laugh.

"Yeah and you got on the phone and told him it must be a cricket. You told him we had a cricket in our room." Cooper chuckles.

"Yeeeahhhh" Charlotte bursts out laughing remembering the night very well. "He believed me. He asked me if I wanted him to send someone up to look for the cricket." She's laughing hard.

Cooper's laughing too. "And I said no I got the cricket right here."

"Because it was me." She smiles.

"You didn't forget did you?" Cooper winks at her.

"How could I forget that night?" She quirks an eyebrow.

"I miss those times." Cooper loses his smile.

"We'll get them back. You keep workin' hard in phsyical therapy." She leans in and whispers to him. "And I'll be shrieking like a cricket again real soon." She raises both her eyebrows.

Cooper inhales a deep breath and lets it out. He's suddenly feeling very guilty again. "I guess we should finish eating. You've got to let St. Ambrose know you're accepting the Chief of Staff position soon."

They clink glasses. "Thanks for being so supportive Coop."

"Yup" He answers and tries to hide his guilt as he eats.

* * *

**Later that evening**

Todd shows up at the house with Bryce's jeep and assembles it for him in the backyard. Bryce is excited. The curly haired little boy helps by handing Todd the tools he needs to complete the assembly.

"Can you hand me the wrench again Bryce?" Todd asks Bryce as Charlotte and Cooper look on.

"Here it is- wench!" Bryce picks up the tool and hands it to Todd.

"Excellent. You remembered which tool it was. You're smart as a whip just like your momma." Todd rubs the little boy on the head."You got some head of hair there kid."

Charlotte chimes in proud. "Cooper wants me to cut it..."

Cooper interrupts "Because people think he's a girl with the long curls."

Todd adds "I wouldn't cut it either. Bryce looks like a cool lil' dude to me. He doesn't look like a girl at all. Give me a high five little man." He high fives Bryce. "Now down low." He teaches Bryce to give a low five and Bryce laughs.

"Thank you." Charlotte smirks and Cooper rolls his eyes.

"Okay little guy! It's ready!" Todd tells Bryce "Give it a whirl." He picks Bryce up and helps him onto the seat of the jeep. "You have to push your foot down on the pedal to make it go." He shows Bryce. Bryce does as told and takes off, his brown curls blowing in the breeze.

"He loves it." Charlotte smiles at Todd. "Thank you for setting it up for him."

"My pleasure." Todd smiles and Cooper watches the exchange.

Bryce rides by and yells out to Todd. "Thank you Docta Todd. I wuv it."

Cooper's feeling real low now. He ordered the toy for his son but Todd, his replacement at work, is slowly becoming his replacement at home now too.

"I should get going." Todd turns to leave.

"You wanna stay for dinner?" Charlotte asks him. "Cooper's grilling steaks tonight."

"Except I didn't know we were having company. There's only enough for us. Sorry." Cooper looks at Todd.

"That's quite alright." Todd waves his arm goodbye to Charlotte as he walks to his truck.

"That was rude Cooper." Charlotte scowls at him. "Todd went to the store, picked up the jeep and then assembled it for us. The least we could do is to offer him dinner."

"I don't like the guy." Cooper shrugs his shoulders at her. "He's got my job and now my son is looking up to him and thanking him for a gift that I bought for him."

"Stop pitying yourself Cooper." Charlotte demands. "I've had enough of it."

"Oh that's real easy for you to say. You're not the one that needs a walker to get around. You're not the one who can't lift his ten month old daughter out of her crib for fear of dropping her." Cooper hobbles over to the deck and sits down.

"No Cooper I'm not but if I was I sure as hell wouldn't be sitting around feeling sorry for myself." She sits on the deck next to him.

"Hmphf" He huffs. "It's your fault I'm like this in the first place." There. He finally said it after all these months.

"Excuse me? It's my fault you decided to have your horse jump over the stump and get yourself thrown off?"

"It's your fault we went on the expert trail. You knew I was a beginner and you insisted on the expert trail."Cooper argues.

"I chose it because it's a beautiful trail and less crowded. Most tourists are on the beginner trail. I thought it would be nice just the two of us horseback riding and enjoying nature. I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to jump over stumps."

"Oh now I'm stupid? If you didn't try to show off and act like you're better than me by jumping over stumps I wouldn't have needed to prove I could do it." Cooper answers back.

Charlotte barks, "You couldn't do it. Obviously" She glances down at his legs. "So this was all about your pride? Your manhood? You were trying to prove that you could do anything I could do and look at you now." She looks at his legs and raises up one eyebrow.

"That's right because you're the almighty Dr. King, who can do anything. Charlotte King can run her own practice and be Chief of Staff at the same time, and on top of it she's a super mom and wife all wrapped in one!" Cooper shouts.

"I guess I'm failing at the last one. Huh?" She gets up and walks into the house leaving him on the steps.

Bryce rides over in his jeep. "Is momma mad at you again?" He asks Cooper with his big blue eyes.

Cooper looks at Bryce, "Yes momma's mad at me again." Cooper looks at his son.

"No faiwytale today?" Bryce asks remembering that Cooper told him that the last time he saw them fight.

"No Bryce it's not a fairytale ending tonight." Cooper looks down.

"Don't wowwy daddy. Maybe tomowwow be a faiwytale."

"I hope so Bryce. I really hope so. Come here." He motions for Bryce to sit on his lap.

"I want you to know that if momma and daddy fight you don't have to be scared. Okay?" He looks his preschooler in the eyes.

"Okay Daddy."

Cooper talks to him softly "And we always still love each other and you even when we're fighting."

"Okay daddy. Can I wide my jeep now?"

"Yeah but first give me a high five." They high five each other, "Now down low." Bryce gives him a low five."

"I love you Bryce." Cooper hugs his son.

"I wuv you Daddy. Can I go play?" The preschooler jumps off Coopers' lap and jumps back on his jeep.

Cooper watches his son ride. He wants to give him the fairytale. He wants to give them all the fairytale especially Charlotte. He thinks about telling her the truth about Allison but not tonight, definitely not tonight. Tonight is not a fairytale.

**The more reviews; the more I write!**

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	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: This chapter contains some content not suitable for minors. Read at your own discretion._

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o**BOOK TWO- CHAPTER FIVE- MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL **x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o xo xo x o

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Charlotte answers the door for Allison. "Good morning. How are you feeling?" She asks. Charlotte notices the cute yellow sundress Allison's wearing and how it flatters her hour glass figure.

"I'm better. I had a stomach bug. " Allison lies, she's called in sick the past week to avoid seeing Cooper after their _'therapy'_ session.

"You must have had it bad. You called in sick the whole week. I think Cooper's coming down with it now." Charlotte tells her as she grabs her purse.

"Really? Why?" Allison wonders.

"Cooper hasn't got out of bed this morning. I told him you were coming today; that you didn't call in sick and he said to tell you to just take care of the kids today; that he wasn't feeling good and that he was going to stay in the bedroom aside from going to his therapy session at the hospital."

"Wow, he must be feeling pretty bad." Allison wonders if he's just trying to avoid her by staying in his room.

"Yeah, he hasn't had any breakfast. Maybe you could check on him in a little while." Charlotte walks out the door.

"Sure thing." Allison answers behind her and she goes into the den to see the kids.

* * *

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x xxx x x x x x **LATER – AT LUNCH **x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

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Charlotte and the new doctor,Todd Turi, are eating lunch together. "What's wrong? You seem preoccupied." Todd asks Charlotte as she munches on a salad.

"Everything and nothing. I don't know." She takes a deep breath and tells him.

"I'm listening." He looks in her eyes.

"I had a big fight with Cooper the other night after you left. We've hardly spoken to each other since. We only talk to each other if it has something to do with the kids. He doesn't even know I accepted the job at St. Ambrose." She rubs her head with her hand.

"Wow! You accepted the job at St. Ambrose without discussing it with him?" Todd's eyes widen.

"No, we discussed it. He was opposed at first then when we went to lunch the other day and he all the sudden changed his mind and told me to take it. He says that he wants me to be happy. So I took it. I was going to tell him about it at dinner that night, the night you brought the jeep over, but we had a big fight and I never got to tell him." She sighs.

"What was the fight about?"

"It started about you. He got his panties in a wad because you had to set the car up for Bryce. He thinks that he's less of a man because he can't do those things." She looks up at Todd. "Then somehow it escalated into him blaming me for his accident and me calling him stupid for attempting to jump over the stump and getting thrown off the horse."

"And you haven't spoken about it since? That was three days ago."

"I know and I feel terrible. I want to talk to him but I don't know what to say." Charlotte takes a deep breath and puts her fork down suddenly losing her apetite.

"Start with sorry." Todd reaches across the table and touches her hand to get her attention. "Tell him you're sorry for calling him stupid. That'd be a good place to start." He smiles. "If I was him I'd feel the same way. The guy has to feel helpless not being able to do those things for his kids. You said he can't even pick your daughter up and carry her around. It's got to be an awful feeling not being able to take care of your own kids or wife." He rubs her hand.

"I know." She looks at his hand on hers and appreciates the comfort. "I should be more understanding of him. I know he's frustrated he can't do things for the kids and especially me."

"What can't he do for you?" Todd asks innocently

Charlotte raises her head and looks in his eyes. "Let's just say since the accident it isn't just his legs that are weak."

"Oh!" Todd realizes he can't satisfy her in the bedroom since the accident. He never thought about that before.

"It's a good thing my specialty is sexology."

"Having a hot wife like you and not being able to do it. That blows." He looks at Charlotte. "You need to apologize. No wonder he doesn't feel like a man."

Charlotte chuckles. "I'll tell him about the job at St. Ambrose and apologize at dinner tonight. I'll pick up his favorite wine and we'll celebrate."

"Celebrate you taking the job at St. Ambrose?" Todd inquires.

"That and Charlotte King apologizing!" She laughs. He laughs too and they go back to eating their lunch.

* * *

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x **Meanwhile At Home. **x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

* * *

Allison puts the kids down for their afternoon nap and knocks on the door to Cooper's bedroom, which is locked. "Cooper? Are you okay in there?" She calls from behind the door.

Cooper's lying in bed watching television. He didn't bother getting dressed yet since he's locked himself in the bedroom all morning. He's chest is bare and he's only wearing the boxers he wore to bed last night. He ignores her.

Allison knocks again. "Cooper, I brought you some lunch. It's a sandwich and chocolate pudding, the same thing I fed Bryce. Would you like some? Open the door."

Cooper thinks about yelling for her to go away but he decides to remain silent. Then he hears the lock pop open and the door knob turns.

Allison pushes open the door and walks in. She sees he's wearing nothing but boxers and says, "I'm sorry. Dr. King said you were sick and I should check on you. You didn't answer me so I wanted to make sure you weren't dead in here."

Cooper scrunches his nose and looks at her. "I'm not that old. I'm not ready to keel over just yet." He notices the cute sundress with spaghetti straps she's wearing.

"I got nervous when you didn't answer so I popped the lock with a paper clip."

"You're a regular cat burglar." He jokes.

She walks in the room and puts the food on the table next to the bed. She sits on the bed next to him. "I think we should talk about what happened the other day."

"You weren't really sick all those days you called in. Were you?" He asks noticing she's not wearing a bra under her sundress.

"No, just like you didn't lock yourself in the bedroom today because you're sick either. You're trying to avoid me?" She offers him a bottled water and he takes it. He's been locked in the bedroom without anything to eat and drink all morning into afternoon.

"You got me." He says drinking the water and picking up the sandwich. "Thanks by the way. I was starving in here."

"That's why it's best we talk about what happened, so it's not awkward between us." Allison suggests.

"I thought about firing you but what would I tell Charlotte? You're great with the kids and they love you. Why would I say I wanted to fire you?"

"So you're not going to tell her about us then?" Allison's surprised.

"I was planning on it but then we go into a big fight the other night and we're barely on speaking terms as it is. So no I didn't tell her."

"What was the fight about? Me?" Allison's curious.

"No, not about you. It was about me not being able to do things that a man should be able to do for his family."

"Oh I could testify to it, you're all man alright." She winks at him.

"Not funny." He says taking a bite out of his sandwich. "We should have never done that."

"I know and that's why we need to talk" She flips her hair back." We need to talk about it so things aren't uncomfortable between us."

"Yeah." He agrees. "Because right now I can barely look at you." Cooper doesn't make eye contact but his eyes are drawn to her yellow sundress.

"I really need this job. While I was off I looked at the want ads and made a few calls but nobody will pay me as well as you and Dr. King." She flips her hair swinging it and it brushes his chest lightly.

He sighs and focuses. "Dr. King and I pay you well because your great with the kids. They love you."

"I love them too. I love em like they're my own. Savannah even calls me momma."

Cooper looks at her now. "Yeah, and that hurts Charlotte."

Allison answers. "I'm with Savannah all day long while Dr. King is at work. Savannah's a baby she gets confused." She swings her long hair again.

He holds back from trying to touch the long silky hair. "It is Charlotte's choice to work." He shrugs his shoulders. "I guess that's the price she has to pay for leaving her all day."

"Savannah will know Dr. King is her mother as she gets older. Right now Savannah spends most of her day with me and you." Allison looks him in they eyes. "She only sees Dr. King in the night and then she is sleeping anyway."

"The kids love you Allison, so I'm not going to fire you but what happened between us last week can't ever happen again. Do you understand?" He looks her in the eyes now.

"I know it was wrong because you're married and I would never try it again but I don't regret it." She takes a sip of water from his bottle that he placed on the table.

Cooper tells her "Well _I_ regret it because it's going to hurt Charlotte when she finds out."

"You never cheated on her before?" Allison asks.

"No. She cheated on me once before we were married and it hurt like hell. I don't want her to feel that way."

"You still married her?" She sips the water again.

"Yes, I forgave her." He takes the water from her and takes a sip to wash his sandwich down. "That's my water."

"So she has to forgive you. Now you're even." She answers grabbing the water back from him. "I'm thirsty too."

"Get your own water." He tells her. "It's different. We're married now. We were dating when she cheated on me." He tugs the water and it spills down her dress. She jumps. "Sorry." He tells her and smirks. He can't help but stare at her with the top of her dress wet.

"I still don't regret it." She wipes her dress with a napkin. " It was incredible. I want to do it again. Not with you of course….but." She moves the napkin around inside her dress to wipe away the wetness.

Cooper watches her and asks "Why not with me? ... Because I'm a cripple?"

"No, you were awesome." She pulls the napkin out of her dress. " Not with you because you're married." She puts the napkin down. " I want to do it again because it felt so surprisingly good." She tells him looking up toward the ceiling.

"Don't tell me it was your first time? Don't tell me that you were a virgin?"

"It wasn't my first time. My first time was with a guy I dated a few years ago. I wanted to wait but he rushed me into it. I was nervous and tense. We did it a few times after but I would always tense up and when I did start to loosen up he would always finish before I even had a chance." Allison explains.

"So this was the first time you experienced the big O?" Cooper asks.

"Yes. And it was better than I imagined." She has a devious smile.

"That's why you were screaming so loud." He chuckles.

"And you were great. I mean the way you made me feel. You weren't selfish like my ex."

"Glad I could help." Cooper smiles and stares at her chest. He feels himself engorge . He takes a bite from his sandwich but it falls apart in his hand as he's distracted by her. Bacon, lettuce and tomato spill on to his chest and abdomen.

Allison automatically starts to pick the food off of him and put it back on the plate.

"You missed a piece."He tells her.

She looks down, "where?"

"I think it may have fallen in my shorts. Can you get it?" He winks at her.

"Are you sure you want me to?" She's confused.

"I want you to." He answers.

She reaches into his boxers and feels around. "I can't find it." She says as she moves her fingers around him.

"Oh I think you found it. You've got your hands on it right now." He tells her.

"That's a huge hunk of meat." She licks her lips.

She pulls down the top of her sundress and Cooper immediately has his mouth on her breasts. He pulls her up; face to face and kisses her mouth. She kisses him back until her tongue is almost down his throat. He pulls down her panties and rubs her. They're both kissing and touching and moaning. He shuffles off his boxers and thrusts himself into her. They move together hard and fast. She screams. He chuckles and pushes into her harder and deeper until he makes her scream louder. He feels her convulse around his hardness. She's yells "Coop! Coop! Coop!" He groans. She lets out a final shriek "Cooper!" and she breaths hard. He explodes inside her, his warm juice shoots in her. She falls down on top of him. She's breathing hard but manages to sputter out. "Cooper." Cooper squeezes her tight and holds her.

She lifts her head and looks into his eyes. "I think I'm falling in love with you." She gives him a soft kiss on the lips.

He doesn't return the kiss, instead her rubs her back "You're mistaking love for lust, Al. You can't love me. I'm married."

"Dr. King doesn't know how lucky she is." Allison lies her head on his chest and tells him.

Cooper holds her. She's not that lucky, Cooper thinks. He's knows he needs to be honest and tell Charlotte. He hopes she's as forgiving to him as he was about Archer but he's worried. He'll tell her tomorrow. He thinks!

* * *

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	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: Some content in this chapter is not suitable for minors. Please read at your own discretion._

x x x x x x x xx x x x xxx x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x **BOOK TWO- CHAPTER SIX- -MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL-** x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx xx x

Charlotte comes sweeping in the door after work. She's carrying a bottle of Cooper's favorite wine in one hand and a hot pink plastic bag with a local lingerie shop's logo printed on it in the other. "Hey!" She says eagerly to Allison and Savannah who are sitting on the living room floor playing peek-a-boo.

"Hello, Dr. King." Allison looks up noticing the wine and pink bag right away. "What's that for?" Allison asks while turning back to continue her game of peek-a-boo with Savannah. The ten month old baby giggles up a storm every time Allison moves her hands away from her eyes and smiles "Here I am."

Charlotte can't help but smile at the sight of her baby girl giggling so hard. She answers Allison's question. "It's just a bottle of wine I brought home for dinner."

"What's in the pink bag?" Allison picks the baby up and walks toward Charlotte. The baby pulls on Allison's long silky hair.

Charlotte thinks it's rude of Allison to ask about the pink bag. It's obvious what it is by the logo of the lingerie store. "It's just a little something I picked up for myself." She tells her and puts the bag on the couch.

"It's good to treat yourself once in a while." Allison answers. She looks at the baby playing with her hair. "Should we tell momma the good news Savannah?"

"What good news?" Charlotte asks watching Savannah play with Allison's hair.

"I got Savannah to walk today. She took a few steps holding my hand. I let go and she was able to balance on her own for about thirty seconds before falling. I think she'll be taking steps on her own soon without needing to hold on to anything."

"That's terrific" Charlotte responds. "Now can you teach my husband?" She jokes.

"l'd be happy to work with Cooper." Allison kisses Savannah's nose and the blonde baby with the big blue eyes giggles at her. "You are just too cute." Allison tells her, kissing her nose again.

Charlotte's surprised by Allison's eagerness to help Cooper. "That's why he goes to physical therapy." Charlotte watches Allison and her daughter playfully interact.

"Physical therapy is only an hour a day. If I helped him at home he could recover faster." Allison blows kisses on Savannah's belly and the baby squeals with laughter.

Charlotte doesn't answer. She's wonders if Allison is looking for more money by asking to take care of Cooper now too, instead of just the kids. "Where are Bryce and Cooper?" Charlotte asks.

"They're in the kitchen. Coop's making a scrumptious dinner." Allison tells her. "I'm gonna go tell them goodbye since your home." Allison's face drops a little.

Charlotte picks up a hint of disappointment or maybe frustration in Allison's voice but she brushes it aside and follows her into the kitchen.

Allison bursts into the kitchen carrying Savannah. "Al's gotta go now, your momma's home." She leans down and kisses Bryce goodbye. Bryce runs over and hugs Charlotte.

"Look daddy, Momma's home." Bryce yells excited. Charlotte squeezes the little boy tight.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" She kisses Bryce on the head.

"Looks like momma brought home some wine, and my favorite." Cooper glances down at the bottle in her hand. "What's the occasion?"

"I'll tell you at dinner." She glances at him and then Allison. She doesn't want to talk in front of her.

"I'm gonna get going." Allison hands the baby to Charlotte.

"Ma- ma. "The baby reaches her hands back out for Allison and cries again. "Ma-ma""

Charlotte's face drops and the hurt is obvious. Charlotte's crushed to hear Savannah call Allison momma and not want Allison to leave her.

"That's your momma." Allison points to Charlotte. "Don't worry about it" Allison tells Charlotte "She's used to me playing with her all day. She'll figure out who her momma is as she gets a little older."

"She knows I'm her momma." Charlotte snaps at Allison.

"Ma-ma." Savannah begins crying louder. "Ma-ma." The baby screams and reaches out for Allison.

"You better leave Al, it's just prolonging it. Savannah will be fine." Cooper wants to talk to Charlotte about his indiscretion with Allison. He made one of her favorite dinners. He looks and sees Charlotte's sad eyes because her daughter would rather be with the babysitter she just called momma.

"Don't take it so hard, Char. She's a baby and Allison plays with her all day. Savannah knows you're her real momma." Cooper puts the plates of food on the table. "Now put Savannah in her high chair and let's eat."

Charlotte kisses her daughter and hands her a baby bisquit. The baby begins to calm down biting on the bisquit. Charlotte places the baby into the high chair and then gets out the wine glasses. She pours the wine into them before sitting down. "I need to talk to you about something." She tells Cooper.

"I need to talk to you about something too. You go first." Cooper's dreading what he has to tell her.

"I accepted the job at St. Ambrose. You agreed to it the other day." Charlotte sips her wine.

Cooper clinks her glass with his. "Congratulations" He tells her and sips his wine. He's not thrilled about it but considering his behavior with Allison lately it doesn't seem worth fussing about. "I'm happy for you." He lies. He's happy she's happy but not so much about the high commitment job she's taking. "Thanks for bringing home the wine. It's my favorite."

"That's no accident." She smiles. "I brought the wine and something else home for us to celebrate with." She quirks her eyebrow up at him.

"What would that be?" Cooper puts his wine glass down.

"I'll show you later." Charlotte tells him. "I want to apologize for calling you stupid." Charlotte swallows. "You're not stupid and I'm sorry." She looks down at the table "Now what did you want to talk to me about?"

Cooper swallows and pauses. This doesn't seem like the right time to tell her about Allison. He doesn't want to ruin the mood after she apologized to him. He just looks at her.

Charlotte picks up her fork "You said you wanted to chew the fat about somethin'. It's your turn. Spill it." She takes a bite of her food.

He thinks quick. "I'm sorry also; for blaming you. I know it wasn't your fault. I was an idiot for even thinking I could jump over that stump."

"Thank you." Charlotte says and picks up her wine.

"I have some good news." Cooper announces to change the serious mood of their dinner conversation a lighter happier one.

"What's that?" Charlotte forms a small smile.

"Savannah took her first steps today." He looks at the baby finger feed her self dinner. "She needs to hold on to Allison for a little support but that's incredible for her age!" Cooper brags on his precious daughter. "She'll walk even earlier than Bryce did! Of course, Allison works at it with her constantly, Allison wasn't around when Bryce was that age.

Charlotte's annoyed. "That's old news. Allison already told me. She asked me if I'd mind if she started helping you too."

"Help me with what?" Cooper gulps.

"Help you stand on your own and take steps without holding on to anything. I told her that's what you go to physical therapy for. I think she's just lookin' for more money." Charlotte shakes her head in disgust."As if we don't pay her enough already. She makes more from us than any other babysitter around"

Cooper takes a deep breath. He's glad Charlotte isn't onto them. He knows he needs to tell her. He'll tell her tomorrow.

Bryce gets down from his chair. "I all done eatin'. Can I be 'scused?"

"Yes, Bryce you can be excused. Scoot and don't forget to wash your hands in the bathroom sink for momma." She pats him on his bottom as he runs along.

"Kay" Bryce says as he runs out of the room.

"How do you like the dinner?" Cooper watches Charlotte scrape her plate clean. "I tried something a little different with the recipe."

"Can't you tell?" She shows him her empty plate.

"I'm glad I could satisfy you." Cooper says and then realizes how it sounded.

Bryce runs back into the kitchen holding a pink and black latex teddy in his hands. "What's this momma?" He shows it to her. "I founded it in a pink bag in there." He points to the living room.

"That's for momma." Charlotte grabs the teddy out of Bryce's hands. "It's not for you. Now scoot and play." Charlotte's pale skin blushes and she's embarrassed to look at Cooper. It was supposed to be a surprise for later.

Cooper smirks. "I think what you meant to say is it's a present for daddy. I can't wait to see you in it momma." He notices her face is turning a bright shade of red and it makes him smile that she still blushes over him. It turns him on. He's been getting turned on easy these past few days he thinks to himself.

"Guess I got caught with my pants down. I was fixin' ta surprise you with it tonight."

"Sounds good to me." Cooper grins. "Let's get these kids to bed so momma and daddy could have some private time." He wipes Savannah's hand and face clean with a napkin.

She's still embarrassed about it. She feels her whole neck turning red. It's been a while since her and Coop have been intimate. They haven't been since before the accident. Cooper hasn't quite been able to get there yet. She's tried stimulating him with some _toys_ she brought home from work but so far nothing has worked. She hopes the outfit will help. She gets up to clear the dishes off the table.

"Look Coop." She takes a deep breath. "I know since I've gone back to work I've been exhausted and neglecting to try and _stimulate _you in the bedroom."

Cooper stops her, feeling uncomfortable with the topic. "It's okay Char. We've been arguing a lot lately, which I want us to stop doing, but I understand you not wanting to try and _stimulate me." _He hates that word.

"It's been a coon's age since I tried and it's not fair, we need to keep up with it if we want you to make progress. I bought the teddy hoping it might help, maybe there's been some change by now."

Cooper swallows and looks away. "I'm going to go take a shower." He tells her and leaves the room. He tries not to think about how Allison helped him get things working again.

* * *

**Two hours later**

Charlotte walks into the bedroom wearing her robe. "Okay done. The kids have been bathed and read to and now they're fast asleep, I'm exhausted myself." She takes off her robe revealing the black and pink latex teddy. Cooper gazes at her in it.

"Come here and I'll give you something to be exhausted about." He flirts.

Charlotte's surprised. Cooper hasn't been this eager in a while. She likes his eagerness and pounces down on the bed next to him.

"Do you need me to help you along?" She refers to manually stimulating him. "I can get one of the _toys _out of the closet."

"Not necessary." He winks at her.

She looks down and sees the bulge in his boxers. She quirks an eyebrow up at him "Ya hidin' a python in there?"

"Maybe." Cooper raises his eyebrows at her. "Can you handle it?"

She smirks. "The question is; can you handle me?"

"I can go all night with you." He responds looking her up and down in her new teddy. "I'm the freak between the sheets, remember?"

"I remember." She climbs on top of him and whispers in his ear "Ya wanna be the patient and I'll be the naughy therapist?"

Cooper swallows hard and starts coughing on his own spit almost choking, his face turns red.

"You alright?" Charlotte pats his back.

"I'm fine" Cooper calms down and gets his breath back. "Can we just be ourselves tonight? You know- Cowboy and Cricket."

"Anything you want." She traces his lips with her finger and then gives him a soft sensual kiss.

He wraps his arms around her and kisses her back passionately. With Charlotte his desire is strong and real, more intense than with Allison.

He parts from the kiss to tell her. "I've missed you Cricket." His hands roam slowly over her body feeling her through the latex teddy. She explores his body with her hands; it's been months since they felt like this and they're savoring it.

He stops them and he sits up in bed. He pulls her up so she's facing him sitting on his lap with her legs wrapped around him. He admires her in the new latex teddy. "You're incredible." He whispers in her ear. He blows soft kisses behind her ear and down her neck. She turns her lip up into a smile and slips her hand in his boxers. He runs his hand along her breasts. "Feels nice." He tells her quietly.

She nods her head in agreement "Uhhmmm... nice" She answers softly. He slowly pulls down her teddy. "I've missed us, Cricket." He runs his hands over her bare skin with careful attention to her breasts. "Uhmmmmm." She moans in approval.

She pulls at his boxers. He lifts himself up to help her get them off and he pulls her teddy all the way down. She kicks it off her ankles and tells him. "I've been needin' you so bad." She runs her hand along his erection. "It's been too long since we've been together like this." She starts pumping him.

"Sorry it took me this long." He mumbles out as he kisses and suckles sensuously on her breasts.

"You have nothin' to be sorry for." She whispers to him as she lifts herself up on her knees so her breasts are at proper level with his mouth. She runs her fingers through his hair and breathes deep as he suckles her. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest.

He slips his hand between her legs and he gently swirls his thumb on her sensitive spot until she cries out his name. "Cooper! Coop!"

"I love you Charlotte" He tells her using her real name because he means it and wants her to know. He lies her back down on the mattress and moves on top of her. "You ready?" He asks her.

"Mmmm...Hmmmm." She responds with heavy breath "I need you now...I wanna feel _us _again..." She wants to feel them connect as one; nothing else in the world matters right now, it's just the two of them. She wraps her legs around his back. She feels him slowly slide into her and she gasps. It's been months since he's been inside her. She savors it.

"You feel it?" He asks.

"Feeling it" She answers savoring every second. He moves slowly back and forth and she moves in synch with him. "Feeling it Coop! Feeling it!" She keeps her hands on his hips stabilizing them.

"Me too" He watches her face.

He brings his head down to her breast and makes swirls around her hard nipple with his tongue. He knows she can't resist the things he can do to her with his tongue. He wants to make her feel as good as possible. She moans fiercely and grinds her hips into his harder. She pulls him tighter into her with her hands on his hips. He takes her que and pumps into her harder and faster staying in rythym. The sweat is pouring off their skin.

She moves her fingers up his back and digs in hard as she shrieks "Cooper!"

He can feel that she's ready to lose control. "Look at me Char." She looks in his blue eyes. He stares intently into her hazel green eyes. "I want us to feel it together."

She nods in agreement. "I'm there." She breathes out hard. He feels her tighten and pulsate around his throbbing muscle as she reaches her climax. She's breathing heavy and she lets out a cry as she pulls his body tight to hers. He can't hold back anymore either. He groans out "Char" before he squirts his warm juice into her and melts into her body. "I love you Char" He whispers in her ear.

"Love you too" She whispers back. "That was unbelievable." She tells him still breathing heavy.

"It was." He answers, still lying on top of her, still inside her.

"I don't want this to end." She looks in his blue eyes.

"Me either." He kisses her lips softly. "I love you so much."

She starts rambling still breathing heavy."Sometimes it's feels better because it's been so long but this was amazing."

"It was amazing because it was with _you _and I'm _in love_ you_"_. _We_ are amazing." He kisses her head and holds her.

"I'm glad to have you back Coop. _All_ of you." She nuzzles her face into his chest.

He sighs.

She thinks it's fantastic that they're intimate again. He feels guilty for sleeping with Allison and not telling her. Truth is he's scared to tell her. He's not about to ruin this moment in the afterglow with her. Tomorrow, he thinks. He'll tell her tomorrow.

**TBC...**

**Coming up in Chapter 7 -Cooper finally tells Charlotte!**

**I respond to all of my reviews and often give sneak peeks into what's coming next! So review!**

* * *

**Reviews make me :)**


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: There may be some content in this chapter not suitable for minors. Read with your own discretion._

_Authors Note- This is a long chapter but it covers a lot of ground. Be sure to read all the chapters. Each one contains important content to help develop the following chapters. You don't want to miss out on anything important._

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x xx x x **BOOK TWO: CHAPTER SEVEN- MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL **x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

* * *

Charlotte comes home for dinner and sits down to another one of her favorite meals prepared by Cooper. Allison has taken the kids out for ice cream. Cooper asked her to since he needs to talk to Charlotte tonight.

"What's the occasion now?" Charlotte smiles and looks down at the meal. "I'm guessing you want more of what you got last night."

"I do." Cooper looks at her. "But I need to talk to you about something else first. There's no good way to tell you this Cricket. I've been trying to for the past week but there's never been a good time."

Charlotte swallows and looks at him. His expression is anguished. "Tell me, Coop."

"I accidentally slept with Allison. There I said it, I had sex with Allison." He blurts it out fast and looks away. He waits a few seconds then looks to see her reaction.

Her mouth is half open in shock. Her hazel eyes are wide open and staring at him, "That really takes the cake!" She folds her arms against the chest and breathes hard, "Explain to me how you accidentally have sex with someone? I can't wait to hear this." Her heart is beating fast and she suddenly has a knot in her stomach.

He looks at her and tries to talk calmly, "It started out innocently. She was helping me with my therapy the day it was canceled last week. I told her how to massage my legs like the therapist does. She did and I felt myself starting to you know" He looks at her. "I felt myself getting excited. I should have told her to stop then but, you know, I haven't been able to get stimulated since the accident. I didn't want to stop her just yet.I wanted to see how far my body could go with it."

"And then?" Charlotte asks standing with her arms folded.

"She started massaging higher and touched me. I told her to stay below the waist and she listened for a while but then her hand moved back up and into my pants."

"You should have stopped her then." Charlotte says gritting her teeth.

"I wanted to see how long my body would keep it up, literally speaking" He chuckles. She's not amused. He continues. "Then she pulled her clothes off and things just happened from there."

"Were you able to finish the job?" She asks.

"Yes." He looks down at the floor and answers.

"Bet you were real proud of yourself!" She slams her hand on the table and gets up.

"I'm sorry Charlotte. It was just sex. It's wasn't intimate like it was with you last night. It was all about the physical pleasure, I haven't felt in so long."

"Damn whore!" Charlotte yells out. "She asked me the other night about helping you with your therapy at home. I can't wait to fire her tramp ass."

"The kids love her Charlotte."

"Do you love her?" Charlotte asks hesitant for the answer.

"Of course not," he puts his arm around her and she pushes him away." I told you it was just sex. It was accidental sex. She's great with the kids. It's not fair to them that I made a mistake and they lose her" Cooper pleads.

"You don't expect me to let that skank around my children after she seduced my husband!" Charlotte's yelling and her eyes are fierce.

Cooper's relieved to hear Charlotte thinks Allison seduced him. Well, she did kind of the first time when it was therapy but the second time in bed he initiated it. He decides not to tell her about that time. Admitting he had sex with her once was bad enough.

Charlotte grabs her keys and hurries towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Cooper tries to follow her holding on to his walker.

"I don't know." She tells him. "I don't want to see her. I don't want to be here when she comes back with the kids. I'm going for a drive."

"Are you coming back?" Cooper asks.

"I've got two kids that live here; of course I'm coming back." She looks at him and thinks he looks pathetic holding on to the walker pleading for her not to go.

"I mean, are you coming back to me? I know you'd never leave the kids but you have to forgive me. I forgave you for Archer."

"Is that what this is about? Is this payback for something I did almost five years ago? You're trying to get even with me for sleeping with Archer?" She yells at him.

"Of course I'm not, Cricket. I told you it was accidental."

She rolls her eyes at his idea of accidental sex. "You're barking up the wrong tree with your Archer argument. We weren't married then. Heck, we weren't even engaged. We were just dating." She pulls open the front door.

"Please forgive me, I love you Cricket."

"Don't call me your Cricket _now!" _She snaps.

I'm sorry Charlotte." He has tears in his eyes.

"I'll be back, Cooper. I need some time alone to think. Just let me do this."

"Okay, go and think but I'll miss you." He tells her as she walks out the door.

* * *

**An hour later**

Charlotte's been driving for about an hour and she's tired, exhausted. She's too angry to cry right now. Her cell phone is ringing every ten minutes. She looks at the name "Cooper again" she says to herself and ignores the phone. She knows she can't keep driving. She's tired and upset and bound to crash her car sooner or later. She finds herself pulling into his driveway. She's thinks it might be a bad idea but he's been a good friend, a good listener and she knocks at his door. It's late. Todd opens the door. He clad in only his jeans. She's never seen him without a shirt and her eyes are drawn to his six pack abs. "Charlotte? What are you doing here at this hour?" He can see by her red eyes that she's been crying. "Come in." He tells her.

She enters his living room and looks around. His charts for work are sprawled out on the coffee table. "Doing your homework?" She asks.

"I'm trying to get familiar with all of Cooper's patients." Todd stacks the charts up on the table to neaten the place up. " Cooper's an excellent pediatrician. I hope I could be half as good as him..."

Charlotte interrupts. "I don't want to talk about Cooper tonight." She blurts out.

He's a little surprised. "Okay...Can I get you something to drink?" He offers.

"A martini would be nice."

He chuckles. "I meant water... lemonade... maybe a glass of milk but if you want a martini ...I can make you one. Have a seat."

"Please." Charlotte relaxes on the couch.

Todd has a wet bar in his living room and mixes up the martini's as she watches from the other side of the room on the couch. "What's going on Charlotte?"

She thinks about it and decides to tell him. She needs to tell someone or she'll explode, but instead she says. "Savannah called the babysitter momma, right in front of me."

Todd hands her the martini and sits down next to her on the couch. "She's a baby, she probably can't pronounce the babysitter's name."

"The bimbo's name is Allison." Charlotte scowls out as she tastes her martini.

Todd puts nudges her knee. "Aren't you overracting? Savannah must love Allison if she calls her momma. It means your babysitter is doing a good job with her."

Charlotte snaps out. "She's doing a good job with Cooper too!"

"What does that mean?" Todd asks.

"Apparently she's been helping him with his therapy." She sips down the martini and tells him. "Cooper hasn't been able to have a purposeful erection since the accident, but he got one for Miss Allison alright."

Todd shakes his head. "Why would he tell you that?" Todd gets up to mix some more martini's.

Charlotte waves her empty martini glass around as she speaks. "She's young and pretty, got the body of a lingirie model."

"So do you my fair lady." He refreshes her martini. "You're a pretty hot thing yourself, you've got nothing to worry about."

"He didn't just have an erection, he had sex with the her. He bit the bullet and told me tonight."

"Oh Geez, I'm sorry." He puts his arm around her shoulder and squeezes it for comfort.

She tastes the martini. "This one isn't bad, almost as good as mine."

"Excuse me?" He smiles, "I bartended in college. I can mix up a pretty mean drink." He boasts. "I happened to win for best martini in my bartender training class."

"Oh it's good. But you haven't tasted mine yet." Charlotte tells him.

"Feel free to mix up the next batch, my lady." He points her to the bar area in his living room.

He watches as she gets up to mix the next batch of martini's for them. "So what are you going to do about Cooper? Are you going to leave him?"

"We have two little rugrats." She shakes the mixture.

"We're not living in the dark ages Charlotte you don't have to stay with him because you have kids." He chugs down the rest of his martini so he can taste the one she just made.

"Yeah and him cheatin' one time doesn't erase all the years of me lovin' him." She hands him the martini. "I still love the bastard. I can't leave him as pathetic as he may be."

"I don't know if I could be as forgiving if I was in your shoes. I don't know what I'd do if my wife ever cheated on me...not that I have a wife."

"Oh, I'm steamin' mad right now. I want to brand my name into his penis with a hot iron,... slowly... all ten letters." Charlotte imagines it in her mind. "See what Allison does if she saw that...my name branded into him. ...and I could burn my last name into his testicles." She takes a sip of her martini and looks at Todd. "I could do it too. I'm a urologist."

Todd snickers. "Remind me never to get you mad."

Charlotte gets quiet then tells Todd. "I cheated on Cooper once before, while we were dating and he forgave me like that." She snaps her fingers. "He just forgave me, no questions asked. I was shocked. I thought he would never want to see me again but he forgave me." Her voice is trailing quietly as she thinks about it.

"That's surprising." Todd offers.

"Cooper's full of surprises." Charlotte answers "So I'll forgive him too but..."

Todd interrupts "You want to make him sweat it out a little?"

"Exactly!" She taps her finger on his chest. "I don't want to make it too easy on him. I''m no pushover!" She's starting to slur her word after all those martini's

"No you're not." Todd pats her back. "You can crash here tonight. I have a spare room." He offers. "And by the way you make a mean martini. I'd call it a tie."

Charlotte laughs about that "That'd be great if I could stay here tonight. I'm three sheets to the wind you don't want me on the road." She slurs out and finishes off her martini.

"You can borrow a pair of my sweats and a t-shirt. The bathroom is there if you want to shower before you go to bed." He points to a room down the hall.

"Great, I could use a shower." She gets up and makes her way to the bathroom.

The shower feels good. She cries thinking about Cooper with Allison and the water washes away her tears as quick as they fall. She gets out of the shower and wraps herself in a towel. She calls out of the bathroom for Todd to bring her the clothes. He doesn't answer. She walks out of the bathroom and finds him asleep on the coach. "Todd, Todd" She calls loud and shakes him. "Wake up! You were supposed to bring me some clothes to sleep in."

His eyes startle open and he stares at her for a minute. She's soaking wet and only wearing a towel. He thinks he's dreaming and stares at her. She says again, "Todd you were supposed to bring me some clothes." He snaps out of it and remembers why she's there.

"Oh yeah" He says "I must have fallen asleep while you were in the shower. The clothes are in my room. I'll get them." She follows him into his bedroom. He looks through the drawers for something that will fit her small frame and she looks around the room. "Is that a water bed?" She asks.

"It is" He answers. "You can adjust the firmness. It can be hard as a rock or feel like your swishing in the ocean. Go ahead sit on it. Try it."

Charlotte sits on the bed and the water swishes under her. "Nice." She says and she lays her back down on it. "Comfy."

"You can sleep on it tonight and I'll take the guest room." He tells her as he pulls his smallest shrunken t-shirt out of the drawer.

"That doesn't seem fair." She's lying on her side, on the bed, with only a towel wrapped around her torso.

This doesn't seem real to him. Dr. King is lying on his water bed in just a towel. He sits down next to her and hands her the shirt.

She takes the shirt from him and unwraps the towel from her body, in front of him. He watches in awe as she slowly pulls the t-shirt over her head and onto her body. It's a small t-shirt, one that shrunk and it's a tight fit. It barely covers her thighs. "Sorry." He says "I didn't think it would be that small."

"S'kay" She makes herself comfortable on the bed shifting around. As she shifts, the t-shirt pulls up to her belly button and she's completely aware of it. He stares at her. She catches his eyes checking her lower half out and says. "That's not fair." She reaches over to him and unbuttons his jeans. She unzips them and tugs them down.

"What are you doing Charlotte?" He swallows and asks a bit nervous.

"You saw mine. Now show me yours. It's only fair." She tells him in her naughty voice. She playfully pushes him down on the bed and pulls his jeans and briefs off. He lies there and lets her. He's a little shocked about what's happening. He's not sure what to do so he does nothing right now.

"You're a big man." She announces as she looks him over. "You wanna play doctor? I could teach you a few things" She whispers into his ear.

"I'm sure you could, but it's the alcohol talking." He tries to sit up. "We'll both regret it in the morning."

She pushes him back down with both of her hands. "And check out the six pack you're sportin?" She rubs her palm in circles over his chest and abdomen.

He takes a deep breath in as she moves her palm lower."We're not exactly playing fair here." He tells her.

"What do you mean?" She asks moving her hand even lower on his body.

"I'm lying here buck naked and you have a shirt on."

"Easy enough to fix." She pulls off the shirt she borrowed and now they're both naked. She lies on top of him pressing her body into his and starts to kiss him.

He stops her. "Wait Charlotte, are you sure you want this? " He takes his hands off her body."Are you're trying to get even with your husband?"

"So what if I am?" She tells him. " It'll make me feel better and you won't feel so bad yourself." She nips at his neck.

"Will you still feel that way tomorrow morning?" He asks.

"I'm not doing this to get even with Cooper. I'm doing this for me." She slurs," This will make me feel better about forgivin' him." She reaches down and strokes Todd between the thighs. "I'll make sure you feel good too... Think of it as one friend doin' a favor for another friend." She smiles at him.

"You're using me." He kisses down her neck.

"You don't seem to mind too much." She answers.

"As long as you're honest, about it, I'll be your fuckin' friend?" He flips and rolls her so now he's on top.

"So you're good with this?" She asks. "One friend doin' a favor for another friend?" She runs her hands through his hair.

I'm good with this." He kisses her neck. "No regrets tomorrow? After the martini's have worn off?"

She looks into his eyes "No regrets. Let's go whole hog."

He positions himself between her legs and enters her. She closes her eyes and moves with him. They get a good rythym going and it doesn't take them long. He shoots his warm fluid inside her and then lies down next to her in the bed. Neither one of them says anything. After about two minutes she stands up and gets out of bed.

"Where are you going" He asks.

"To the bathroom to clean up." She walks across the room.

"Do you want me to sleep in the guest room tonight?" Todd asks not looking at her.

"What would be the point of that? You already saw me naked. You can stay where you are." She hurries off to the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom she hops into the shower. She turns the water as hot as she can get it without scalding herself and rinses off. She's not crying this time, but she can't get Cooper off her mind. She thinks she should check her messages. She shut off her phone because he kept calling while she was driving around earlier. She knows he's worried sick about her. She doesn't feel guilty about sleeping with Todd. She didn't do it to get even with Cooper like Todd thinks. She doesn't want to hurt Cooper anymore, the poor guy's suffered enough since his accident, she thinks. The accident took away his pride and his sense of manhood, which has always been a sensitive issue for Cooper. No, she did it for herself. She did her for her pride as a woman. She needed to feel wanted by another man. A younger attractive woman wants her 42 year old handicapped husband, she needs to feel wanted and attractive by another man. Todd has certainly made it known that he finds her attractive. She needed to do this for her own peace of mind in order to forgive Cooper.

After she finishes in the shower she pulls the small t-shirt Todd gave back over her body. She climbs back in the waterbed. Todd's already asleep on the opposite side of the bed. She whispers "Goodnight Cooper, Goodnight Brycie and Savannah" to herself then closes her eyes and falls asleep.

They awake in the morning. He rolls over and looks at her. He asks. "Any regrets?"

She looks around and remembers why she's there. She remembers what Cooper told her about sleeping with Allison. "You wanna do it again?" She blurts out. What's done is done, one more go at it can't hurt anything she thinks. It'll just boost her confidance after being cheated on by her handicapped husband. She needs to do this for her.

He smiles. "That answers my question." He starts kissing down her neck.

"As long as you understand. I still love Cooper and I'm going to mend fences with him today." She rubs her hands along his back.

"You're just using me, got it" He continues to kiss her flesh.

"I don't want you to holler about it like a stuck pig tomorrow."

"I don't know what that means but you can use me anytime." He tells her as he leans down to kiss her flesh and enter her again.

Afterward, she lies in bed next to him and feels confidant about herself. She feels like a an attractive, sexy woman again. It won't be so hard to forgive Cooper anymore.

"Do you feel better about your husband cheating on you?" He rubs her head.

"I do." She smiles at him. "Thanks for helpin'."

"Anytime you need a friend, I'm more than willing to help out." He grins.

She smiles and smacks his butt. "I'm not ready to go for round three yet" He laughs out.

"There's not gonna be a round three. I'm fixin' ta take another shower, go home and tell Cooper I forgive him for his _accidental_ sex and we'll live happily ever after." She says sarcastically as she wraps the towel around herself.

"Are you going to tell him what we just did?" He watches her get out of bed.

She tightens the towel around her tiny frame. "Do you think I should?"

"From my stand point it's not a good idea." He pulls his pants on. "Cooper's likely to come over and give me a beating."

Charlotte smirks. "You could out run him." She leans against the door watching him get dressed. "My two and a half year old could beat Cooper up in the state he's in."

Todd pulls his shirt on. "That's just plain sad and that makes me plain sad for sleeping with his wife." He zips up his pants. "You should tell him. He told you about the babysitter. Right?"

"Right."

"Honesty's the best policy." He walks over to her and plays with a strand of her hair. "You both cheated. He told the truth about it. Don't you be the liar and whatever happens...happens."

'I'll think about it in the shower." She straightens his shirt out for him.

"And remember, my fair lady, he takes her hand in his and kisses the top, "I'm always here if you need me."

She smiles and pulls her hand back. "I better take that shower now." She walks out of the room.

"Anytime." He watches her walk away. He wonders if he was really such a good friend to do that _favor_ for her.

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**Shout out to my beta Just For Fun for all her help with this chapter! :)**

**..TBC...**


	8. Chapter 8

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x-**BOOK TWO CHAPTER EIGHT- MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL-** x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

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Charlotte comes home the next day in an extraordinarily good mood despite the news Cooper gave her the evening before about his indiscretion with Allison.

She finds Cooper still in bed even though it's twelve noon on a Saturday. "Where are the kids?" Charlotte's voice is very casual.

His head's resting on the pillow. He moves his eyes to look at her. "Violet came this morning and took them. I can't manage them by myself yet and it's Allison's day off. You were no where to be found. I've been calling you all night." Cooper notices she's wearing the same clothes she left in after their fight last night.

"I turned my phone off." She shrugs her shoulders.

"Where were you? I was worried. I called the hospitals to see if you'd been in an accident."

"I was driving around and I got tired." She shrugs her shoulders at him again. "I went to a friends' house." She shrugs her shoulders at him again.

"I know you didn't go to Violet and Pete's house." He studies her unusually calm face considering the situation. "You went to his house; didn't you? You went to Todd's house?" He lifts his head off the pillow to get a better look at her face. He knows Charlotte doesn't have many friends to go to..

"I needed a friend after what you sprung on me yesterday." She sits at the far corner of the bed from him.

"Did you sleep with him?" Cooper can't help but blurt out. Cooper sits up in bed and studies her face. She doesn't answer. Cooper asks again. "Did you sleep with him?"

"It wouldn't make a difference if I did since you slept with Allison. You can't be mad at me for doing the same thing you did." She shrugs her shoulders again and it's annoying him, her casual nonchalant manner.

"I slept with Allison on accident!" His voice is getting louder.

"Oh please." Charlotte rolls her eyes at him. "I was upset and had a few drinks so I slept with Todd. That's my excuse." She shrugs her shoulders another time at him and now he's really irritated.

"He took advantage of you?" He punches his fist into the bed. "You were upset and drunk and he slept with you?" Cooper's red faced and angry. "He's gonna pay."

"Calm down. I was upset and he made me feel better. He didn't take advantage of me. It was something I needed to do to make me feel better about forgivin' you, short of branding my name into your penis."

"By cheating on me?" He looks at her with his fierce blue eyes.

"It needed to do it for me. I do feel better. I forgive you Coop. I'm not mad anymore." She shrugs her shoulders at him again.

"It's not right Charlotte. It's like an eye for an eye." He huffs and slams his hand down again. "Can't you see that?"

Charlotte remains calm. "I didn't do it to hurt you or get even with you. I did it for me. So I could make peace with it. Would you rather I didn't sleep with him and I stayed mad at you? Maybe didn't speak with you for a few months?"

Cooper rubs his face rapidly and repeatedly with both his hands. "What's happening to us Cricket?" He asks anguished.

"Cricket?" Charlotte answers in a low voice. "You still wana call me cricket?" She looks at him.

Cooper has his hands over his face still. "Yes, but what's happening to us?

Charlotte can tell by his voice that Cooper is teary and trying to hide it from her by covering his face with his hands. "Life." She answers.

Cooper keeps his face covered. "It's not supposed to be like this." He wipes his eyes now. "We have two children. I don't want this kind of life for them. They deserve better."

"Shoulda' thought about them before you accidently slept with their babysitter." Charlotte raises an eyebrow.

Cooper agrees," I know. I was wrong. I screwed up but don't want to fight in front of them. We've been arguing in front of them too much lately." He tells her his voice low.

"All parents fight Coop. Mine did, I'm sure your parents fought sometimes too." She watches him wipe his eyes.

"Maybe." He answers "But I know they didn't cheat on each other and I don't want that for our kids."

"What are you sayin' Coop?" Charlotte takes a deep breath. "Are you sayin' you want to split up so we don't fight in front of the kids cuz I went into this relationship whole hog for ...the good ...and the bad...for better ...or worse ...and I'm not going to let Allison screw it up for us... Damn homewrecker!" Charlotte throws her purse across the room.

Cooper interrupts. "No, that's not what I'm saying. I don't know what we should do right now." His eyes are still teary and Charlotte can see them clearly now. "I wish I never met Allison."

"This is my fault. I'm the bad one." She says.

Cooper takes a deep breath and tells her. "No, you're not the bad one. I cheated first. I'm the bad one." Cooper argues.

Charlotte puts her hand on his knee. "I forgive you. Heck, Coop I don't even think I blame you for it."

He looks at her. "What do you mean?"

"Hell, you haven't had a woody since the accident, I don't blame you for gettin' excited when she tried to seduce you." She tells him seriously. "But is still hurts just the same."

"I should have said stopped it before it got too far." He confesses.

"Yes, you should have, but if you've got this hussey pulling her clothes off seducin' ya after ya been celibate for months, I can see it happen." She squeezes his knee.

He watches her. He doesn't say anything because that might be true about the first time with Allsion but not about the second. He decides not to bring that up, it will only make matters worse right now.

"But me? I knew exactly what I was doin when I seduced Todd."

"You seduced Todd?" Cooper's taken back.

"Pulled my bath towel off right in front of him. Then I went for his pants off." She tells him straight out.

"Cricket!" Cooper corrects himself. "I mean Char. You did that to get even with me?"

"I already told you NO. I did it to make myself feel better _not_ to get even with you. It didn't help that we both downed several martinis first." She decides not to tell Cooper that she slept with Todd again the next morning after the martini's already wore off.

"I'm sure the martini's didn't help the situation." Cooper holds Charlotte's chin up and looks in her hazel eyes. "I'm sorry about Allison, it'll never happen again. I'll call her and tell her not to come back to work. We'll find someone else to watch the kids."

"Good." Charlotte nods her head in agreement.

"What about Todd? You work with him. You see him everyday."

"Todd and I are just friends. He did me a favor to help me out."

"Huh! Some favor. I'm sure he loved doing you _that_ favor." Cooper rolls his eyes and makes a "pffssshhh." noise

"He's the reason it's easier to forgive you. He's the reason I'm able to sit here and talk to you right now."

"When you slept with Archer I didn't run out and sleep with anyone in order to forgive you." He reminds.

"We weren't married then; no rugrats running around." She reaches over and rests her hand on his knee. " I love you Coop and I want to forgive you. This was the only way I could make it right for _me_. I needed to feel wanted and attractive."

"I want you Char! You're the most beautiful woman I know! I'm sorry if I made you feel you weren't." He scoots closer to her on the bed and she scoots closer to him. "Sleeping with Allison had nothing to do with how I feel about you. I love you."

"It's just that she was able to get you excited , she was able to give you an erection and I couldn't up until the other night. I know she's much younger than me and she's pretty and..."

Cooper interrupts "Charlotte stop. I want you more than any woman in this world. You're still my hot cricket, you always will be." He kisses her forehead. She buries her head in his neck and cries. "Don't cry Char. Please don't cry. We're going to be alright." He kisses the top of her head and holds her tight " Maybe we needed this"

She looks up at him. "We needed what? To cheat on each other?" She squints her red eyes and waits for an answer.

"Maybe it was good that we both were with other people, so we could see how much better it is with each other. I mean with Allison it was just sex. It felt good but not as good as with you because I love you."

"Same for me." She squeezes his hand.

Cooper smiles. "We've learned a lesson here. We need to stay together." He hugs her tight. "I love you."

"I want to spend the rest of my whole damn life with you." She hugs him back.

"Good I'm ready to move foward with our lives I'll call Sam and tell him I'm ready to come back to work." Cooper decides.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Charlotte asks.

"I'll make sure I'm ready. I need to go back to work."

"Or do you just wanna go back to work so Todd has to leave?" Charlotte questions.

"Honestly it's a little of both but I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna call Sam and tell him I'm coming back so he could give Todd his walking papers."

I just hope you'r not bitin' off more than you can chew going back too soon. You still need the walker."

"I'm making progress Char. I'm going to practice with a cane so I don't need the walker. It won't be so bad if I used a cane."

"Alright." Charlotte shakes her head thinking Cooper's rushing it just so she doesn't have to work with Todd anymore. "Let's get you up and dressed and pick up our lil' honey bunnies from Violet's house." She reaches her arms out to help him up.

"No. I want to do it on my own." He gets up and steadies himself. Charlotte stands next to him just in case. He musters up some courage and takes two steps forward without his walker.

"Coop. You just took two steps." Charlotte's excited for him. He manages to take two more steps before getting wobbly. He grabs for her but he's bigger and heavier and they both topple over. He lands on top of her on the floor.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"I'm okay." She mumbles out from underneath him and they both burst out laughing. They laugh hysterically together for a few minutes the kind of contageous laughter in which you just can't stop. They finally get a grip on their laughter and she pats him on the back. "Coop you took four steps on your own. You're getting better. "

"How about after I get dressed we take a walk outside?" I'll bring my cane to help me keep steady instead of the walker."

"Great idea" She's happy this idea came from the man who wouldn't leave the house except for his therapy appointments and one lunch date with her.

"We're making progress Coop. We're getting closer to our fairytale." She pulls his arms up to help him lift off the ground. "You'll be walking normal again soon."

He tells her. "Everything happens for a reason."

"It sure does, come on let's go for that walk." She stands gets his cane. "You're making impressive progress," she tells him as she hands him the cane.

"No _we're _making progress. We're in this together woman right up until the end." He takes the cane and tries it out.

_"We're _in this whole hog; together until the end."

Cooper walks leaning on the cane with one hand and holding onto Charlotte's hand with the other. Charlotte stays very close to him for support him if he needs it. Progress she thinks _they're_ making progress. They walk out side into the sunshine together. "It's a beautiful day." She tells him.

He squeezes her hand. "It's a beautiful life." They walk off together.

**TBC...**

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	9. Chapter 9

x o x o x o x x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o **BOOK-****2 Chapter 9- Mirror Mirrror On The Wall- **x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o xo x o x o

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**** One month after chapter 8 left off.**

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**One month later:**

It's a lazy rainy Sunday morning and the Freedman's decide to sleep in. Cooper's wakes up when he hears Charlotte come out of their bathroom. She slams the door accidentally. She has a worried expression on and she's holding something in her hand.

"What's that? Cooper asks groggily.

"A pregnancy test." She hands it to him.

"It's positive." He looks at her. "That's good Cricket, we said we wanted a third kid. Did you change your mind?"

"No I still want a third." Her words don't match her disappointed expression.

"So what's the problem? Is it because of work?" He's guesses.

"It's not that." She sits on the bed next to him.

"How long are you going to make me guess?" He looks at her funny.

"I slept with Todd last month. Remember?"

"Ohhhhh! Crap!" Cooper sits up in bed. "He didn't use a condom?"

"No, it's not like he planned it. We weren't prepared." She sighs and looks at the pregnancy test Cooper's now holding in his hand.

"The odds are in my favor. You only screwed with Todd once and we've slept together a jillion times since then." Cooper leans back down on his pillow.

"It only takes one time Coop, besides I had sex with him twice once that night and then again the following morning." She confesses." You know how horny I am at sunrise."

He pauses and decides this would be a good time to come clean. "I slept with Allison twice too" He coughs. "You don't know how good it feels to finally get that off my chest."

"Cooper, you said it was an accident. You said she seduced you."

"She did the first time. The second time she gave me this big speech that I was the second guy she ever slept with and that the first guy was never able to satisfy her. She never hit the jackpot until me."

"Oh?" Charlotte's not too happy.

"She told me it was the most amazing feeling and she wanted to feel it again." Cooper almost sounds like he's bragging.

"And of course you had to oblige her?" Charlotte's voice is getting more annoyed.

"You already forgave me and besides you never told me that you and Todd had sex twice either."

"Looks like we're two peas in a pod"" Charlotte says looking down at the sheets.

Cooper sighs, "We're like mirror images."

Charlotte grabs his hand. " Is the there any hope for our kids? What are they gonna be like whrn they get older." She jokes, she can't stay mad at him. She's the one that may be pegnant with another man's child.

"I don't even want to think about it." Cooper rolls his eyes and she squeezes her hand. "We're made for each other woman."

"What are we gonna do Coop?" She looks over at the pregnancy test. "This is such a mess."

"I still think the odds are in my favor that it's my baby. You slept with Todd twice and with me at least four times as much over the past month."

"It only takes one time Coop." She warns again.

"It'll be okay. Remember I was adopted. I'm not genetically related to either of my parents and they love me like their own. If there's the slight chance that this is Todd's baby, I'll still love it like my own."

"Really?" She holds her hand over her lower abdomen.

"My parents didn't adopt me until after I was a few weeks old. I'll be with this baby through the whole pregnancy, the doctor's appointments and sonograms and the birth. It'll be mine. I promise, no matter what." Cooper puts his hand on top of hers on her belly.

"You'll be able to love it as much as you love Bryce and Savannah?"

"It'll be Bryce and Savannah's sibling. It'll be part of them so it'll be part of me too."

"I love you Coop." She rolls onto her side and rubs his face with her hand.

"I want you to know Charlotte if it turns out to be his kid it's my fault. If I didn't sleep with Allison none of this would have happened." He runs his hand over her head gently.

"I'll get a paternity test as soon as I'm far enough along to." She tells him.

"No way! There's a risk of miscarriage with that and you already had one miscarriage."

"And there's always the chance it could be your baby that I miscarry." She looks at him and he could see tears forming.

"Char, It's going to be my baby no matter what. No test Okay." He kisses her forehead.

"Not even after it's born and safe to do the test?" She asks.

"Not even after it's born?" He answers. "This is my baby, our baby" He rests his palm on her belly again.

"What about Todd? He may wonder." Charlotte sighs.

"He won't have to know. He just took that job up in Sacramento." Cooper reassures her. "Hopefully that's the last we see of Dr. Todd Turi."

Bryce comes running in the room with Savannah toddling behind him. Bryce climbs on the bed and Cooper pulls little Savannah up. They both pounce up and down on the bed and squeal in delight. Charlotte and Cooper can't help but laugh at the sight of it.

"Now this is the life." Cooper tells Charlotte. "This is what it's all about." He grabs Savannah and tickles her and the she shrieks with laughter.

"Tickle me daddy." Bryce demands and Cooper does.

Charlotte watches as Cooper plays with their children on a rainy, lazy Sunday morning and agrees. "This is what it's all about." She puts her hand on her belly. "It's all gonna be alright. I can feel it."

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**This is the end of Book Two. Review and let me know your thoughts about it. You can send me a Private Message also. I love them !**

**Book Three starts eight months after this Book leaves off. It begins as Charlotte gives birth to the new baby. There will be an interesting twist and lots of drama in Book Three so look out for it!**

**It will be tilted Char&Coop The Fairytale Series Book 3_ Wish Upon A Star_**

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